Instant Shabby Chic Vintage Look

I've been trying to get my mini store locker (acrylic locker boxes in Ben Franklin Crafts) ready to showcase my handmade crafts.  The regular display stands seemed too bland so I decided to make my own cases.  I love the vintage shabby chic look so I intended to paint some display boxes with crackle paint.  However, when I was shopping at Ben Franklin Crafts I happened upon a new product called Inka Gold by Viva which intrigued me.  It is a paint paste that comes in many luscious metallic colors. I rubbed the platinum paste straight onto the unpainted wooden frame with clothes pins.  Because I was going to use the frame as an earring display, I removed the glass front.  In just a minute the frame was dry and I painted Speedball adhesive size (for metal leafing) onto the frame.  When the adhesive was still tacky, I rubbed on some metal leafing.  Next I used sand paper to rub off some of the leafing and push some of it into the wood grain.  

Here is a close up of the distressed shabby chic finish.  Lastly, I cut some vintage looking scrapbook paper to fit the back panel and taped it into place with Merikan double stick tape.  If photos were attached with the clothes pins and the glass replaced, this would make a lovely picture frame(which maybe was the intent).

This is the case I made for displaying my necklaces.  I used the old silver, rose quartz and platinum Inka Gold paint on this one. There are lots of wooden boxes, frames, etc. at BFC that could benefit from a shabby chic finish.  It's simple to do with the products shown in the photo below.

With Christmas coming up I think you could make lots of beautiful gifts for friends and family with the wood products and finishes available at Ben Franklin Crafts. Now is the time to start crafting for the holiday season. Thanks for stopping to read this blog post.  I hope the information has been of interest to you.